Pensioners and students: united by information on behalf of organic growing

by Paolo Ghiga

Can the media world unite, using the resources of the Web, different un-waiving generations toward a common goal? The answer is Yes, thanks to "Nonnet: orti urbani digitali" (Nonnet: digital urban gardens), a regional plan of environmental awareness and training, started on 19 October in Pontecagnano (Salerno) and promoted by Legambiente Campania and Fondazione Mondo Digitale.

The initiative, now active in three municipalities, Pontecagnano and Eboli in the province of Salerno and Succivo in the province of Caserta, involves elders and students by establishing a bridge between generations, facilitated by the use of the pc within Campania's garden and starting from territorial redevelopment plan of Legambiente, "1000 vegetable gardens for Campania", which, for some time, assigns free city gardens to pensioners who cultivate them with support from students of the schools. Next step will be to involve institutions that have already joined, in an attempt to cover the entire Campania Region.

Elders and youth tutors will work together to share on line (virtual spaces, called Ortoline, will be deployed at the gardens) documents, their technological innovations of organic farming and life experiences. People over 60 years old will learn how to use the computer, by applying a proven learning model, "Grandparents on the Internet", coordinated by Fondazione Mondo Digitale, whose previous eight editions have trained more than 9000 seniors to use the internet, led by 5,000 students tutors and 650 coordinating teachers.

At the end of each section, with the contribution of the Italian Association for organic farming (AIAB) and the supervision of expert agronomists, the system issues an environmental education manual. Dr. Elisa Amorelli (Fondazione Mondo Digitale) and Dr. Peppe Ruggiero (Legambiente Campania), they told us how it was this fruitful participation between two realities that boast a past business collaboration: "The President of Legambiente Campania, Dr. Buonuomo, during the last edition of Terrafutura, international trade, met representatives of the Foundation: affinity of goals and values is following the natural collaboration to combine environmental sustainability and social inclusion, is the basis of averting possible exclusions of categories most at risk, such as the elderly, the disabled, migrants and political refugees. "

Fondazione and Legambiente consider the fascinating and challenging idea of "cultural exchange", or "barter" of the third millennium, expressed by project Nonnet and are convinced that the input can extend to more ambitious situations, such as the Global Junior Challenge, forge solutions, based on new technologies, to reduce the social gap in the world, or the Digital Bridge, a satellite technology bridge with the Sahrawi and Cameroon, funded by the Lazio region. "Nonnet", as pointed out by two representatives of the associations, "aims to bring the digital natives to the elderly, to devise new forms of communication and a new understanding of others".

Dr. Amorelli analyzes, finally, the model "Grandparents on the Internet" and new methodologies of approach: "the model owes its success to constant educational significance of the project, to teaching (remember driving digital literacy of adults, done in collaboration with the Department of Linguistics at the University La Sapienza of Rome), customizing focused. It is vital to involve communities and the local area. Victims of a redundant information, where the communication vehicle is very important, effective strategy can be communicating in a simple but detailed way, which will draw effectively to scientific value by using video, documentaries proselytes, books, civil theatre and the Web".

During the presentation of Nonnet new partnerships were announced, also at national level, between Fondazione Mondo Digitale and Legambiente, created to promote a conscious use of technology against waste, and proper disposal by educating and promoting the recycling and reuse.